Says Requested Increase "Not Necessary"

The EAA has formally responded to an FAA proposal that would increase the Class D airspace at Selfridge Air National Guard Base (MI), from the current radius of 4.3 miles to 6.6 miles. In a Federal Register notice published on February 25, 2004, the FAA asked the public to consider the above change to support Category E aircraft using circling approach procedures. In its response to the proposal, the EAA said that the requested increase is not required for the following reasons:

• Circling west of the airport is not authorized due to current densely populated noise restrictions, therefore the expansion of Class D airspace to the west is not needed because these aircraft are prohibited from flying there.
• Pilots flying Category E aircraft have a host of straight-in approaches available - ILS, LOC, and ASR, all with lower approach minimums then a circling approach could offer.
• The increase in Class D airspace to the east would force non-participating VFR general aviation aircraft into a corridor 2.7 miles wide while transitioning north and south over Lake St. Clair, between the Class D airspace and the Canadian border. This would greatly increase the chance of mid-air collisions while flying in less then pristine VFR weather conditions.
• The increase in airspace would have a detrimental effect on the VFR traffic operating from Ray Community Airport (57D), which is located just north of Selfridge ANGB airfield.

FMI: http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchFormSimple.cfm (enter 16705 in the search block)